Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 10

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Geocache Description:

This cowboy cache is located at a historic watering hole that served Highway 80 travelers all the way back to the Roaring Twenties and into the Bread-Line Thirties and WWII Forties. You will find a Parmesan Cheese shaker hidden at a location of surprising historical interest. Nice easy walk through some open Chamise bushes. Altitude at site is 3753 feeet.

If you are looking for old-timey stories about San Diego County then the Sandy Creek Cowboys are worth knowing. They are uncommonly interested in local history and folklore. Cowboys appreciate Geocaching as a way to share their love of the olden days. Fact is that they lived through the olden days. A transportation company known as Pickwick Lines was founded way back in 1911. The Pickwick operation grew to include Pickwick Hotels and, in March of 1929, Pickwick Airways flying between San Diego and Los Angeles on tri-engine Air Yachts that sported 525 horsepower Pratt & Whitney engines. Pickwick, under the name Pickwick Broadcasting, also operated a number of radio stations including KGB in San Diego. Pickwick Lines operated as the San Diego–Imperial Valley Stage and traveled along old Highway 80 where it passes near Sandy Creek Ranch. Pickwick Nite-Coaches often overheated when climbing mountain grades, especially in summer months, and so needed a source of radiator water. Dependable sources of radiator water along steep grades were critically important to the Pickwick drivers. Natural springs were improved by adding water basins and cisterns to accumulate water from trickling springs to ensure an adequate supply for passing motorists. Remnants of one such spring exists today. It can be seen along the shoulder of Olde Highway 80 a couple of miles east of Sandy Creek Ranch where the old catch-basin remains, though damaged, near a lone cottonwood tree that enjoys the basin overflow. Park at the pullout beside the catch-basin and walk up the old dirt road a piece to locate this Geocache. After that walk further up the dirt road to see and enjoy the remains of an old “Self Serv” filling station that serviced passing Pickwick coaches. Take a moment to imagine the rigors of a long motor trip aboard a San Diego–Imperial Valley Stage. Motor-coach operations were essential in the nineteen twenties because road conditions were too rigorous for outings in family autos. Numerous motor-coach operations were established. One of the operators called Motor Transit Company joined forces with two other west-coast operations in 1926, absorbing Pickwick Lines and Pioneer Yelloway System. Together they became Northern Transportation Corporation, also known as Greyhound Lines, and they adopted the famous running-dog logo we know today. Please take a moment to view associated photographs showing a Pickwick Nite-Coach, a group of Pickwick drivers, and a Pickwick Air Yacht. While you’re at it take a moment to consider the importance of water in our daily lives. Take it from the Sandy Creek Cowboys, the availability of water throughout the southwest is much more of an issue now than it was to the pioneers of Pickwick. Enjoy, and remember, y' heard it first from th' Sandy Creek Cowboys.